


‘cause most of us are bitter over someone

by tikii



Category: RWBY
Genre: .PNG, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Character Study, Fear, Gen, Guns, Open to Interpretation, Scene Study, Songfic, dot png, how do I tag this omg, if that’s a thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:27:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22553236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tikii/pseuds/tikii
Summary: in which oscar realizes what fear can do to people, and experiences it first hand(SPOILERS FOR V7 FINALE !!!! DO /NOT/ READ UNLESS YOU’VE SEEN IT !!!!)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 69





	‘cause most of us are bitter over someone

**Author's Note:**

> hello !!! back at it again at krispy kreme  
> i !!! wanted to do a fic with youth by daughter for the Longest time and lo and behold ironwood decided to be a horrible person and i was finally able to !!! it’s kinda scary how much this fits  
> this is like ... a character/scene study in which you see how things played out in oscar’s perspective and it’s kinda short but i’m really happy with how it turned out !!!  
> if you notice any mistakes please tell me - writing on a phone kinda sucks 😔👊
> 
> AGAIN !!! if you have not seen the finale for v7 , click away right now !! this is your final warning !!!! 
> 
> enjoy ^

**_And I’ve lost it_ ** _ all  _ **_I’m just a silhouette…_ **

It was a long elevator ride down, so it gave Oscar time to think - to contemplate. To breathe. 

He couldn’t afford for this to fail or go wrong. He had essentially abandoned Jaune, Nora and Ren for this crazy plan. If this didn’t work, then all of that was for nothing. Then he would have lost the relic for nothing.

Oscar took a shaky breath, running a hand over his face. Depending on how this went, he could lose… everything.

(Just like how Ozpin has lost, again and again and again-)

(Well… Oscar wasn’t in the right headspace to think about that.)

Oscar took another shaky breath, trying to convince himself that this was going to go as good as he hoped. As the elevator went down, Oscar could feel the air becoming charged with magic energy, making him straighten his back and narrow his eyes. He was here - and as long as Ironwood was willing to listen, Oscar wouldn’t lose anything today.

He refused to.

**_A lifeless face that you’ll soon forget…_ **

_ “And… whom do I have the pleasure of speaking with?” _

At any other point, if someone had asked him that. it’d send him spiraling down in his thoughts - thoughts about where the like separating him and Oz was, thoughts about how maybe, just maybe, people only saw him as simply another one of Oz’s reincarnations and saw him as expendable; the list could go on forever. 

Oscar went through this before - the thoughts, the memories, the feelings-

He couldn’t let the fear of becoming Oz - or rather, ‘just another one of his incarnations’ - control him. He had to do what he thought was right with whatever time he had left - whether it be a long time or a short time.

A flare of determination sparked in his chest.

“...still just me.” He kept his voice steady, using Long Memory to support himself.

Oscar felt a small pang of hurt in his chest when Ironwood looked down and away, seemingly… disappointed. 

“Do you intend to fight me?” Ironwood had asked at some point, and Oscar had to hold himself back from making a face.

What didn’t Ironwood get? Oscar knew that Ironwood was paranoid, that he was scared - but fighting was exactly what Salem wanted. He thought… he thought that was made clear. He thought that Ironwood  _ knew  _ that.

Oscar’s eyes continued to meet Ironwood’s, but his expression dimmed slightly. 

What… what fear did to people was sickening, Oscar concluded at that very moment.

Salem wanted to divide them - Salem wanted them to fight, to do horrid things to each other just to get her way - just to end everything. Oscar would be  _ damned  _ if he had made it this far just for them to fail now.

He wouldn’t fail - and that was a promise to himself that he had made a while ago.

He didn’t intend on breaking that promise. 

**_And my eyes are damp from the words you left…_ **

Oscar could fear a familiar stinging in his eyes as Ironwood monologued on, but he refused to let it show. He stomped down on the tears that threatened to surface, reminding himself that he had to be  _ strong  _ for those who couldn’t be, he had to  _ protect  _ the people who couldn’t protect themselves -

He needed to do everything in his power to help those who couldn’t help themselves.

“Listen to me!” Oscar had pleaded, but Ironwood was not having it. 

Ironwood was angry, taking steps forward to make Oscar take steps back, his expression full of rage and his voice raised and shaking with bitterness and animosity. 

But his eyes betrayed what he was saying;

His eyes were full of fear.

Oscar took a deep breath, not tearing his eyes away from Ironwood’s. If only Ironwood would listen - if only he stopped letting fear control him.

Fear was powerful, and Oscar  _ knew  _ this. Fear was something that made people do things that they would never do, say what they would never say-

And with some of Oz’s memories, James would  _ never  _ do this, and  _ never  _ say anything like this.

**_(James… what happened to you?)_ **

It was like Lionheart all over again -

Fear was a big game changer. When Oscar made it out of here ( _ when _ \- not  _ if _ . Never  _ if _ .), he would have to tell his teammates that. 

Oscar took a small step back, steeling himself and his expression.

“Then you are just as dangerous as she is, James.” He said with certainty as if he was stating a fact. 

And then it was dead silent, and dread filled Oscar’s stomach at Ironwood’s expression.

**_Ringing in my head when you broke my chest-_ **

He should have reacted sooner - he  _ should have seen it coming _ . 

“...to you… it’s  _ General. _ ”

Those four words changed  _ everything. _

Oscar blinked, and a gun was being pointed at him. Horror spread in his chest and into his throat and into his head and into his arms and legs and feet and hands and -

Oh  _ gods  _ not like this -

There was a loud, banging sound in the air -

The light in Ironwood’s eyes was gone -

Oscar felt a sudden weight and pressure in his torso -

His aura flickered -

_ (Gods what had happened to **trust -** ) _

He was…. he was-

He was falling.

And as he fell, he caught the eyes of the General one more time-

And there was no remorse in his eyes - just a dull…  _ apathetic  _ expression.

**_Ringing in my head… when you broke my chest._ **

And Oscar was  _ falling. _

**Author's Note:**

> ironwood i thought we were VIBING WHAT HAPPENED TO U  
> TYRA BANKS VOICE I WAS ROUTING FOR YOU


End file.
